Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

Cyclists take to the road, but promoting safety is top of mind

By Jacob Hoytema, Ottawa Citizen, May 20, 2019

As the weather finally turned warm on the weekend and the National Capital Commission’s Sunday Bikedays debuted for another year, it feels as though the summer cycling season has officially begun.

But for many residents, staying safe while biking on urban roads is a prominent concern, as many commuters were still in shock and confusion after a collision last Thursday in which an SUV hit a male cyclist in his 50s on the Laurier Avenue bike lane just east of Elgin Street.

(...)On Monday, a “critical mass” bicycle trip that had been scheduled for weeks involved a ride from Westboro to Dow’s Lake as part of a celebration of the life of Chris Bradshaw, an activist, municipal worker and Green Party politician who died in November. Such trips involve a group of cyclists biking together and trying to remain conspicuous in order to advocate for cyclists’ place on the road.

Some attendees said they were newly conscious of the context of their message given last week’s collision.

Do any of the parties have a climate plan that matches the scale and urgency youth need?

By Monica Mason and Niklas Agarwal, National Observer, May 17, 2019

Our names are Monica and Niklas. We’re two young people who have grown up with austerity our entire lives while inheriting a dying earth. With climate change on every party’s agenda for the 2019 election our question is simple: do any of the party leaders have a climate plan that matches the scale and urgency youth demand?

Over the past few weeks, extreme flooding across Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick has pushed climate change to the forefront of the political news cycle. As waters rose, so did calls for real action, with an intense debate this week in the House of Commons sparked by the introduction of two competing climate emergency motions introduced by the Liberals and the NDP.

Cyclists and pedestrians will soon have new way to cross Grenville canal

By James Morgan, The Review, May 14, 2019

A new bridge over the Grenville Canal is the latest of improvements being made to the historic waterfront area on the Ottawa River.

On May 8, Municipalité Régional de Comté (MRC) d’Argenteuil council approved an expense of up to $1.1 million for a new arch bridge for bicycles and pedestrians that will cross the waterway.

According to Grenville Mayor Pierre Thauvette, the bridge will be located at the southern part of the canal and allow connection between the mainland and the island that separates the canal from the Ottawa River.

Rising gas prices making it harder to afford necessities: survey

By 1310 News, May 18, 2019

As the price of gasoline begins its high summer season, painful increases at the pump are causing some road warriors enough heartburn to rethink trips to cottage country this Victoria Day long weekend.

According to a new survey conducted by the non-profit Angus Reid Institute, the vast majority of drivers have witnessed gas prices going up where they live, and fully one-in-three (33%) who have noticed an increase say they are struggling to keep up.v

(...)More Key Findings:

• When gas prices rise, the vast majority of Canadians are affected. More than three-quarters of the population (76%) drives a car or other motor vehicle "most days" or "multiple times per week"
• Most of those who have been personally affected by rising gas prices have done something to try to mitigate these effects. One-in-three (35%) say they have been driving less, and another quarter (26%) say they have been filling up less. Still others have traveled to other towns (18%) or across the U.S. border to buy gas (7%)

Laurier Avenue has highest number of collisions involving cyclists

By Ryan Tumilty, CBC News Ottawa, May 17, 2019

Thursday's fatal bike crash occurred just a few pedal strokes away from the Ottawa intersection where more cyclists are struck than any other.

A westbound cyclist was killed on Laurier Avenue W. in a hit and run just east of Elgin Street yesterday morning.

• 'It could be me': Cyclists worried after fatal hit and run

Several spots along Laurier, where separated lanes were installed in 2011 west of Elgin, actually have the highest collision numbers anywhere in the city.

Today's letters: Mayor Jim Watson thanks Ottawa's flood workers and volunteers

By Nancy Biggs and Ross Meredith, Ottawa Citizen Letters to the Editor, May 18, 2019

(...)Let’s make the ByWard Market a focal point for our city

Re: The birth and death of the ByWard Market, May 13.

Barry Padolsky has it right. The ByWard Market has the potential of becoming a vibrant part of our city. More people are choosing to live and work in the city centre. With 55,000 people living within two kilometres of the market and 98,000 employees working in the downtown core, as well as the nearby location of an LRT station, this is a wonderful opportunity to make this an amazing place.

Imagine if we got rid of on-street parking and made it truly a place for people, like the wonderful plazas in Europe, and not a parking lot. More trees and planters would add to the experience. The 1,200 local farmers who employ 10,000 people in Ottawa could be invited back to the market to sell their produce. For much of the year people could enjoy sitting in sidewalk cafés. The season could be extended with a little ingenuity like in Scandinavia with the use of windscreens, awnings, heat lamps and blankets.  Don’t Canadians pride themselves on being resilient?

(...)Let’s clean up the Market, and expand it

Congratulations to Barry Padolsky for his thoughtful and timely column on the ByWard Market, home of Ottawa’s Bytown roots.

With the market’s 200th birthday celebration in 2027, the members of the Capital 2020 Task Force asked themselves what kind of ByWard Market should this nation’s capital have? We all agreed it should be a thriving economic zone with a wide range of public uses and programming; however, the present danger of gangs and criminal activity had to be addressed as a priority.

We also want to open the market to the 20 per cent of our population who have a disability so they can access restaurants and shops. We need a sustainable plan that provides easy, pedestrian movement, while accommodating cyclists and vehicles.

City begins studying site where cyclist was killed

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, May 18, 2019

The city has started examining safety problems along Laurier Avenue where a cyclist was struck and killed on Thursday.

Two separate reviews will be initiated, said Capital Ward Coun. Shawn Menard.

The first will be an analysis by a group called the fatal collision review committee, made up of police, the coroner’s office and city transportation staff, he said.

“There is going to be a full review with recommendations.”

He also said transportation staff will be examining that intersection.

The bike path, he said, “is known among cyclists as a death strip because there is a strip of painted cement that goes between two lanes of (motor vehicle) traffic.” Cars and trucks often need to cut back and forth across the bike lane to reach their own destinations.

$11 million self-driving car innovation network launches in Ottawa

By Bradley Shankar, Mobilesyrup, May 17, 2019

Invest Ottawa and the Government of Ontario have partnered to launch the Ottawa L5 Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) Test Facilities, an innovation network focused on self-driving vehicles.

The government says the move — which is valued at more than $11 million CAD — will help further Ottawa’s contribution to the economy while also expanding Ontario’s global CAV presence through the development of CAV solutions, firms and jobs.

The facilities are located in Kanata North, Ottawa, which is home to Canada’s largest technology park. In total, they provide nine kilometres of public roads and 16 kilometres of private tracks for testing. These testing grounds have been built to endure weather in all four seasons, including heavy snow, sleet and ice.

Read more at MobileSyrup.com: $11 million self-driving car innovation network launches in Ottawa

ttps://mobilesyrup.com/2019/05/17/self-driving-car-innovation-network-ottawa/

Beer, biodiversity, and little brown bats: Welcome to Peterborough’s Conservation Café

By David Rockne Corrigan, TVO, May 16, 2019

PETERBOROUGH — A group of conservation scientists walks into a bar — the Publican House Brewery on Charlotte Street, to be precise. Around a table on the second floor, they sip beer and talk shop.

“Biodiversity, that belongs to everybody,” says Christina Davy, a research scientist and adjunct professor in Trent University’s environmental and life sciences graduate program. “It’s really neat to be able to share that with other people so that they feel ownership of all the cool things that are out there that maybe they don’t get to see themselves. But we can show it to them.”

Although there’s plenty of socializing, this isn’t a casual get-together: it’s the third instalment in the monthly Conservation Café series organized by the newly formed Trent Research Group for Communicating Conservation Science. The aim is to help experts share their research and insights with the public.

Independent certifier says LRT isn’t ‘substantially complete’ yet: City of Ottawa memo

By Beatrice Britneff, Global News Ottawa, May 16, 2019

An independent certifier hired by the City of Ottawa and the builder of the $2.1-billion Confederation Line has sided with the city and rejected the Rideau Transit Group’s (RTG) claim that the LRT system is “substantially complete,” according to a memo issued by the city on Wednesday.

A status of “substantial completion” means that construction of the 12.5-kilometre, 13-stop train is finished and the system is effectively ready to go.

“Despite (the certifier’s) assessment, it is important to note that RTG has been continuing work on all areas in an effort to close out issues throughout the Confederation Line system,” the memo continued.

Planting event adds 310 trees in Alfred-Plantagenet

By The Review, May 13, 2019

South Nation Conservation (SNC) and partners added another 310 trees to the Eastern Ontario landscape through a planting event in the Township of Alfred Plantagenet on Saturday, May 11, 2019.

SNC teamed up with youth from the 58e St-Bernard de Fournier Scouts group to refill an existing tree buffer near Curran, Ontario. Local scouts worked together to plant 290 White Spruce seedlings and 20 Red Osier Dogwood shrubs, contributing to the area’s forest cover and wildlife habitat.

2019 marks the 12th partnership anniversary between SNC and the 58e St-Bernard de Fournier Scouts.

Municipalities point to counties official plan for municipal tree canopy and vegetation policy

By Louise Sproule, The Review, May 13, 2019

He says. She says.

Although municipalities are pointing to the tree and natural vegetation policies contained in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell (UCPR) official plan as protection of municipal tree cover, the counties are not responsible for protection of tree canopy in municipalities.

Clarence-Rockland, Alfred-Plantagenet, Champlain Township, East Hawkesbury and The Nation Municipality each adopted by-laws earlier this year in keeping with changes to the Ontario Municipal Act which said that municipalities had to establish policies by March 2019 with respect to the manner in which they will protect and enhance the tree canopy and natural vegetation in municipalities.